AUBURN - The last time the Auburn Doubledays and Brooklyn Cyclones met, the end result was a league title for the Doubledays.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Auburn center fielder Nicolas Bartolo attempts to track down a first-inning single hit by Brooklyn's Kirk Nieuwenhuis during Tuesday night's game at Falcon Park.
Auburn center fielder Nicolas Bartolo attempts to track down a first-inning single hit by Brooklyn's Kirk Nieuwenhuis during Tuesday night's game at Falcon Park.
Last season's Sept. 14 finale had all the drama, power hitting and stellar pitching that a New York-Penn League championship game should have.
In the Tuesday's rematch, the pitching and big hits were there as well, but this time for the Cyclones, who won in non-dramatic 6-2 fashion at Falcon Park.
Chris Schwinden entered the game with a 1.02 ERA and continued to pitch well by allowing four hits and three walks while striking out five in six innings.
He allowed both Doubledays runs, though on a sacrifice RBI by Mike McDade in the first inning and a sac fly by Adam Amar in the sixth.
On the day when Auburn announced it was sending a league-high five players to the New York-Penn League All-Star Game next week (Staten Island, Mahoning Valley and Hudson Valley are also sending five), it wasn't a good day for four of them.
McDade, Amar and leadoff hitter Chris Demons will represent the offense, but none earned a hit on the night, though Demons scored a run in the first. Joel Carreno, who was also selected an all-star, suffered his third loss of the season - and his second in a row - after permitting half of Brooklyn's runs. The Cyclones scored a run in each of the first three innings, along with six of their eight hits while Carreno tied his season high for walks in a game with two in his five innings. With a 4-3 record and a 2.91 ERA, Castillo Perez will join Carreno at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, Tuesday.
The Cyclones were up 3-2 with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth when Kirk Nieuwenhuis blasted a bases-clearing triple to widen what would be the final score off Hunter Moody.
Moody had allowed one run in 11 games prior to the pitch. With four hits on the scorecard entering the bottom of the ninth, the Doubledays could only muster a McDade leadoff walk before Roy Merrit fanned the side to end the game.
Auburn stranded just four runners in the game.
Toronto Blue Jays' third-round draft pick Andrew Liebel made his first appearance of the season after being activated on the Doubledays roster on July 28. In relief of Carreno, Liebel threw two fantastic innings, striking out three, with no walks, hits or runs allowed.
Since first-place Jamestown and Batavia, who is in a second-place tie with Auburn, both lost on Tuesday, the Doubledays didn't lose any ground in the division.
But with just 22 games remaining in the season, the Doubledays need just about every win they can get. Auburn (30-23) hosts Brooklyn in game two of three tonight.
Notes: Auburn catcher Joel Collins had half of the team's hits in the loss as he went 2-for-3. Bartolo Nicolas had the other two, including a big leadoff double in the sixth. Collins also threw out two runners at second base, one in the second and another in the fourth. ...Brooklyn has become the league's road warrior, winning 10 straight games away from KeySpan Park. ...Auburn committed three errors in the loss, two of them by McDade at first. ... Despite their comeback ability, the Doubledays are now 0-16 when trailing after eight innings. They are also 6-19 when they allowed more than three runs. ...With their loss against Brooklyn, the Doubledays have now faced every team in the New York-Penn League this season at least once.
In the Tuesday's rematch, the pitching and big hits were there as well, but this time for the Cyclones, who won in non-dramatic 6-2 fashion at Falcon Park.
Chris Schwinden entered the game with a 1.02 ERA and continued to pitch well by allowing four hits and three walks while striking out five in six innings.
He allowed both Doubledays runs, though on a sacrifice RBI by Mike McDade in the first inning and a sac fly by Adam Amar in the sixth.
On the day when Auburn announced it was sending a league-high five players to the New York-Penn League All-Star Game next week (Staten Island, Mahoning Valley and Hudson Valley are also sending five), it wasn't a good day for four of them.
McDade, Amar and leadoff hitter Chris Demons will represent the offense, but none earned a hit on the night, though Demons scored a run in the first. Joel Carreno, who was also selected an all-star, suffered his third loss of the season - and his second in a row - after permitting half of Brooklyn's runs. The Cyclones scored a run in each of the first three innings, along with six of their eight hits while Carreno tied his season high for walks in a game with two in his five innings. With a 4-3 record and a 2.91 ERA, Castillo Perez will join Carreno at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, Tuesday.
The Cyclones were up 3-2 with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth when Kirk Nieuwenhuis blasted a bases-clearing triple to widen what would be the final score off Hunter Moody.
Moody had allowed one run in 11 games prior to the pitch. With four hits on the scorecard entering the bottom of the ninth, the Doubledays could only muster a McDade leadoff walk before Roy Merrit fanned the side to end the game.
Auburn stranded just four runners in the game.
Toronto Blue Jays' third-round draft pick Andrew Liebel made his first appearance of the season after being activated on the Doubledays roster on July 28. In relief of Carreno, Liebel threw two fantastic innings, striking out three, with no walks, hits or runs allowed.
Since first-place Jamestown and Batavia, who is in a second-place tie with Auburn, both lost on Tuesday, the Doubledays didn't lose any ground in the division.
But with just 22 games remaining in the season, the Doubledays need just about every win they can get. Auburn (30-23) hosts Brooklyn in game two of three tonight.
Notes: Auburn catcher Joel Collins had half of the team's hits in the loss as he went 2-for-3. Bartolo Nicolas had the other two, including a big leadoff double in the sixth. Collins also threw out two runners at second base, one in the second and another in the fourth. ...Brooklyn has become the league's road warrior, winning 10 straight games away from KeySpan Park. ...Auburn committed three errors in the loss, two of them by McDade at first. ... Despite their comeback ability, the Doubledays are now 0-16 when trailing after eight innings. They are also 6-19 when they allowed more than three runs. ...With their loss against Brooklyn, the Doubledays have now faced every team in the New York-Penn League this season at least once.
